132 SCIENTIFIC EDLTCATION: v 



all over Great Britain and Ireland. Some of my 

 colleagues, who have to deal with suhjeets snch as 

 Geometry, for wliich the present teaching power 

 is better organised, I understand are likely to 

 have three or four times as many pai)ers. So far 

 as my own suljjects are concerned, I can under- 

 take to say that a great deal of the teaching, the 

 results of which are before me in these examina- 

 tions, is very sound and good; and I think it is 

 in the power of the examiners, not only to keep 

 up the present standard, but to cause an almost 

 unlimited improvement. Now what does this 

 mean? It means that by holding out a very 

 moderate inducement, the masters of primary 

 schools in many parts of the country have been 

 led to convert them into little foci of scientific 

 instruction; and that they and their pupils have 

 contrived to find, or to make, time enough to carry 

 out this object with a very considerable degree of 

 efficiency. That eificiency will, I doubt not, be 

 very much increased as the system becomes known 

 and perfected, even with the very limited leisure 

 left to masters and teachers on week-days. And 

 this leads me to ask, Why should scientific teach- 

 ing be limited to week-days? 



Ecclesiastically-minded persons are in the habit 

 of calling things they do not like by very hard 

 names, and I should not wonder if tlicy brand 

 the proposition I am about to make as blasj)ho- 

 mous, and worse. But, not minding this, I venture 



